


Bane

by remanth



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bane - freeform, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares, Stony - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 17:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remanth/pseuds/remanth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony wakes Steve up from a nightmare</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bane

Steve stared down at the controls of the plane, the sound of the engine and the wind rushing through the hole loud in his ears. The plane was on a direct course for New York City and would kill countless people if allowed to make it to its destination. Even though the bombs that had been dropped were all taken care of, New York City was Steve’s home. He couldn’t let Hydra win and kill all those people. But as he stared at the controls, knowing what his only choice was, a thread of doubt ran through him. Wasn’t there another way? Yet the length of ocean below him was running out and Steve wouldn’t let people die. But there was one last thing he could do.

“I’ll see you Saturday,” Peggy’s voice came over the com as Steve angled the plane down to the freezing ocean below. “You better not be late.”

Steve was thankful that Peggy’s voice was the last thing he heard before crashing into the ice below. Though he knew it would hurt her that he hadn’t finished his sentence, that he had sacrificed himself for the sake of countless lives. But that’s what war was, Peggy understood that and Steve had to believe she’d be able to move on. She’d helped with Bucky; surely someone would be there for her. Howard if no one else.

Steve was thrown out of the chair as the plane impacted and water started to fill the plane. It happened so quickly that he was barely able to get his arms underneath him to start lifting himself up. The cold was biting and burning, ice filling his lungs as he struggled to breathe. Opening his mouth to scream, Steve let the last of his air out as water rushed into his mouth. Then, there was a warm weight on his chest and Steve knew he was dying. He’d read about drowning and about dying in the cold. When you were warm, it meant your body was shutting down. But something was different this time. Though why he thought _this time_ Steve had no idea. This was the first time he’d crashed the plane, right? The only time, really, as he wasn’t going to survive. He’d lay here, frozen and cold, maybe forgotten by the world and the people he’d saved. But that was all right. 

“Steve! Steve, wake up!” a man’s voice broke into Steve’s reverie, a familiar voice. One that shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t exist at the end of his life. “Damn it, Steve, wake up. JARVIS, lights on.”

Steve continued to scream, still lost in the past and the nightmare. The ice was so very, very cold and he felt like he’d never be warm again. Even after waking up after SHIELD had found him, Steve had a hard time staying warm. Again, the warm weight covered him and Steve managed to open his eyes. Tony’s worried face stared down at him, a slight bruise forming on his left cheek. The lights and the soft bed underneath him and, most of all, the _warmth_ of Tony sitting on him finally broke Steve out of the nightmare. The ice was gone and he was safe. Closing his mouth and taking a deep breath, Steve reached up and gently cupped Tony’s cheek, rubbing his thumb over the bruise.

“Did I do that?” Steve asked quietly, a thread of guilt tearing at him. “I’m sorry, Tony.”

“No problem, Capsicle,” Tony replied jauntily, though he dropped the grin that had come to his lips automatically when Steve flinched. “What’s going on?”

“Just a nightmare,” Steve shook his head, unwilling to talk about the terror that had gripped him. They were just nightmares, even if he really had been frozen in the ice. He shouldn’t be afraid of them anymore. “Thanks for waking me up.”

“Come on, Steve, talk to me,” Tony cajoled, propping his elbow and Steve’s chest and resting his chin in his hand. The other hand rested lightly on Steve’s shoulder. “For you to scream like that, it had to be pretty bad. Talking helps, believe me.”

And Steve really did believe Tony as he was the one Tony had talked to after the battle in New York. The genius still had anxiety attacks and Steve had learned quickly how to talk Tony out of them. Perhaps it was time to share the fears Steve had, the terror of cold that he couldn’t shake off. He hadn’t even spoken about them to the SHIELD psychologist who’d examined him after he woke up. Besides, the nightmares were getting worse and a small part of Steve worried that he might never wake up from one.

“All right,” Steve muttered, looking away from Tony’s earnest eyes. This wasn’t something he could talk about while looking at the other man. Though he did reach up and lay his hand over Tony’s on his shoulder, grateful for the contact. It was the little things like that that really got to Steve, ever since they’d become a couple. “I dreamt that I was on the Hydra plane again. I’d made the decision to put her in the water and I was talking to Peggy. Then I crashed and the water and cold flooded the cabin. I remember being so very cold and then just warm as my body numbed. It’s really my bane, you know. I can hardly stand the winters in New York anymore.”

“That really sucks,” Tony said, at a loss for words but wanting to show some support. “Tell you what. We’ll stay in Malibu then. You’ll be warm and I can fly both of us wherever the team needs us to go.”

Steve laughed at that and leaned up to press a soft kiss to Tony’s lips. The movement, of course, overbalanced Tony and the man slid sideways to land on his side next to Steve. They both laughed and Steve wrapped his arms around Tony, pulling him close. Talking about the nightmare had actually helped, had dulled the experience in his mind so that now Steve could relax and sleep again. He kissed Tony one more time, lingering a little longer until Tony let out a sound the genius would firmly deny was a moan.

“Thank you, Tony,” Steve whispered against Tony’s lips. “I think that was exactly what I needed. Good night.”

“You’re welcome,” Tony replied, letting one hand splay out across Steve’s back as the other rested lightly on his hip. “ Good night and sweet dreams this time, yeah?”


End file.
